Moonlit Paws
by sammidixon
Summary: When Starlit is facing a throne of responsibility, can she put aside her personal qualms against her chosen mate or will her resistance drive her into the arms of someone who can singlehandedly destroy her way of life?
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the basis of this plot, a salute to Annette Curtis Klause for her creation of this beautiful world! I've just added a little spin of my own to her story.

A/N: I do not have a Beta yet so please know that only I have edited this prior to uploading it! Please leave reviews of your opinions, I'd like to know if this is something anyone else would like to see develop aside from myself :)

_**Chapter 1**_

__I lay on my bed trying to grasp any cool air my ceiling fan would provide to my room. The attempt was to no prevail.I pulled my legs over the side of the bed and got into the shower before Heidi woke. Being the older sister, she is the only one left of my blood relatives. Her and I had a special connection because of that, however our personalities couldn't have been more different. Where I inwardly judged myself, she probably couldn't point out a flaw on herself. Sometimes I idolized that confidence, other times I wanted to stab her for it. At times I could have sworn I was the older one by four years rather than it being the other way around.

In the shower I didn't bother adjusting the temperature to match a commonly agreed upon warmth. Instead I left it on ice cold, knowing that my internal thermometer could handle the chill. Just as I predicted, when I got out from beneath the icy water my body didn't even shiver to the sudden temperature change. I looked out the window in the bathroom and noticed already that it was going to be a very dreary day. Most likely it was going to rain, but it wasn't the nice refreshing cool rain, it was going to be a hot and stuffy rain. I could already feel the stuffiness creep onto my skin just looking out the window. I dried off and headed downstairs to make my breakfast, and when I was toasting a bagel I heard a knock at the front door. My eyes flashed to clock above the fireplace and saw that it was 7:00 in the morning. When I opened the door I tried to immediately shut it closed but they pushed through. There was too many of them. It was my annoying age mates, Cullen pushed through first followed closely followed by Seth and Liam.

"Morning, Star." Liam said politely as the other two filed into the kitchen smelling the bagel. I made an acknowledging noise towards Liam and followed them into the kitchen. Cullen was eating my bagel while the others searched the small kitchen for something else to eat.

"Cullen, you son of a-"

"Be nice, Star." Cullen warned, his eyes tempting me to reach for the bagel.

"Just give it to me." I said holding my hand out towards him.

"You have to come and get it." Cullen said with his mouth open, clearly wanting a little something extra in payment.

"In your dreams, dog." I spat at him heading to the cabinet to find some cereal. Heidi stood in the doorway to the kitchen looking her best, she never left anywhere looking anything less than perfect.

"Mornin' boys." She said, slinking across the kitchen to get milk. They returned the greeting but their gaze dropped from her face to her butt. I rolled my eyes and spoke up,

"Oh my Moon. Get a life. All of you."

"Don't be jealous Star, we give both sisters equal attention and adoration." Seth said shoving a piece of bread wrapped in sausage down his throat.

"Save it for someone else." I growled.

"Suit yourself." Seth teased. I rolled my eyes and dumped my bowl into the sink to be washed.

"I'm heading out." I said to Heidi who was reading a magazine at the table.

"Where?" she asked, not bothering to look up from the magazine she was flipping through.

"Somewhere. I'll be back by nightfall." I grabbed my book and slammed the door behind me hoping to give the boys the signal to not follow. They probably understood the motion but that only made them more curious and annoying. Their footsteps were heard right behind me and just as quick they were walking in tune with my fast pace.

"Get lost." I snapped. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with them today, and I wasn't sure if they were especially annoying this morning or if I was just extremely irritable. Probably a little of both.

"Where're you going?" Cullen asked kicking a rock that went sailing into the nearby forest. I considered lying, and then I thought that maybe the truth would be boring enough to make them leave me alone.

"The chapel. Now leave." I said sternly.

"You know that Gavin will want you next to him at the Festival tonight." Cullen spoke up.

"Well, news flash. I don't do anything because _Gavin_ wants me to. I will be at the Festival for my own reasons. Gavin can mind his own damn business. That goes for you, too." I snarled and picked up the pace, loving the feeling of pushing my body.

"Now, Star. I'm obviously just looking out for you. You can't keep pushing Gavin away like that. You've got to realize that you belong to him. Even your parents did that for you - "

"Leave my parents out of this!" I growled, whipping around and stalking towards him. "You have no right to harass me with that because it is absolutely none of your business. I suggest that you get lost, preferably into the river." I spit at the ground in front of him and pulled my hood up as I took off running towards the chapel. I had always had a flair for drama, and the instinct driven by emotion that lurked inside of me didn't really help that aspect of my personality. Luckily, my point was made loud and clear. I didn't hear the guys pursuing me so I finally let out a deep breath and started to enjoy the run.

Despite the heat of the day, the sky started to rain. I tilted my head up to feel the raindrops gently kiss my soft face. The steady rainfall calmed my anger as I ran through the suburbs of the city. A dirt path that showed me the way ran along the side of the forest, I knew it so well that I could close my eyes and not find any fault in my step. I jumped up off the ground, kicking my foot onto a tree and then launched myself off the side, and hit the ground still running. Using my body like this made me feel alive, the physicality and the exertion made my blood pump fire. I felt eyes on my back coming from the forest and I had learned to welcome the feeling of being watched. You were never really alone, even if you were. Not when you were part of a pack.

The run worked off some steam and I knew I needed to start running at least three times a day to stay in a good mindset. I felt truly at peace, with the help of the steady rain drops constantly hitting my bare skin. While running, I peeled off my tank top so that I simply ran in my sports bra and Nike shorts. Modesty wasn't a very prominent feeling when you lived like we did. When you were like us. I was proud of my body and didn't mind showing it off, odds were that the eyes I felt didn't think twice about my bare skin. It was natural. Our family was used to a more natural way of living, and baring skin wasn't automatically classified in a sexual conclusion.

I licked my lips, loving the sensation of the air touching my abdomen as I continued my run. I would be arriving at the chapel any second and I cherished the end of the run, the pumping adrenaline that you get when you push your body to do what it was meant to do. Finally, I came up to a forest clearing with trees surrounding the beautiful building. It was old from age being more than 300 years. Vines grew up from the ground climbing on the walls of the ancient chapel. It was made of stone and had long since turned into ruin. My family had discovered it, buried within the woods. Realizing that it wasn't actively taken care of, I started visiting it and soon enough made it my favorite place to be.

I was in love with the chapel, it made me feel like not everything was lost. It had a comfortable and protecting aura surrounding it. Inside was even more beautiful than the outside. Great oak pews sat in rows staring towards the center back of the chapel. A podium stood proudly, though it had long been abandoned. The ceiling was high and strong, the whole chapel had that calm feel to it. I walked down the aisle in between the pews, letting my hand drift across the old oak. I met the podium and walked past it, up a spiral staircase in the corner. A few seconds of darkness and then I came out on a balcony that over-looked the massive room. There was a thick banister that came to about hip height, allowing you to lean over and see the rest of the chapel below. I climbed up onto the banister, sitting down so I could look over the chapel. I closed my eyes and let loose a long sigh. My thoughts wondered aimlessly finally coming across the Festival that was going to be held tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Please let me know what you think of this story and if you would like to see it continue! I have a lot more typed out for this, so once I know there's some readers out there for it I will gladly write it up! Thanks, loves :)**

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Chapter 2

It had been three years since my parents' deaths, same for the other seven pack members who had died that same night.

Five years ago the pack had found a big, open forest that was perfect for all of us to roam around in. We all built cabins about 70 yards apart between each. I was nineteen at the time that we first moved into the forest, and was skeptical about being so close to humans who lived on the suburb of our forest.

We had always been raised to keep our wits about us around humans, not so much that we avoided them but that we would easily blend without drawing attention to ourselves. Like oil and water, we could coexist but not mesh. And that was for, above all, safety of both parties.

Despite my dislike for living closer to the humans that I would have picked, I was proven wrong for awhile. For two solid years, no human bothered or even showed interest in us. Rarely did one even stumble onto our property, and when they did my mother and father were sure to make our exposure to them seem as normal as possible. And it was working well.

Though the year I had turned nineteen was when everything became very real for my future. My parents had wanted me to be the mate for Cullen. And as honest as I always was, I graciously begged them to not push that on me. After growing up with him, that was the last thing I had wanted and I knew I would never be happy being his mate.

That disappointed my parents, but they soon played the role of matchmaker once again. I came from a long line of wonderful leaders, and my parents only wanted the best wolf for the hopeful future Queen. Heidi had stepped down from the title when she turned eighteen, the year when you accept your future title and begin making plans for it. The news quickly spread that it was I who would be taking the throne one day and I suddenly had a blazing stroke of independence. I was adamant that I didn't need another wolf beside me to rule. If I wanted to rule, I could do it myself. Mate be damned.

My parents combed through our entire pack and the surrounding packs in our area. There was a desperation to their looking, as though if I didn't find my mate soon I would never find one. More often than not, I hated their choices. Simply because it felt forced, I didn't try hard to get to know the wolf mainly to spite my parents. None of them really grasped my attention either. That is, until Gavin came.

He had come from a pack somewhere up north, where the winters were brutal and life was overall a lot harder than it was here in our eastern area.

Gavin fit the part perfectly because he had a very wild look to him, he was big and tall, his features hardened from the seasons. And he just had that tone about him that commanded attention and respect.

My parents jumped on him like he was fresh meat.

He had come down to our pack simply to make a connection between his pack and ours, wolves rarely merge packs by any means but we do keep tabs on each other to keep up to date knowledge about size and location. But when my parents approached him and asked him to stay around for a bit, he did.

He peaked my interest, that was for sure. I took every chance I could to slyly look at him whenever we were in the same area. I would catch him blatantly staring at me sometimes, and it was those times that something deep in my belly seemed to come alive. Like a fluttering sensation that I had no control over. Every time this happened I got frustrated and almost stamped my foot, because I knew that he could feel my interest in him. Leave that to the instincts we were born with, he could basically smell the peaked desire rolling off of me. I hated that he could read me so well even when I was trying to be nonchalant. And because of that, I tried to appear even more disinterested.

Though he seemed interested enough in me to play this game I started, because he didn't shrug and give up when I turned my head. He hung around and I'll admit, I liked the adoration I got from a wolf deciding to change packs mainly because of me. I was flattered, and even though I wouldn't admit it out loud to him, I liked it a lot.

My thoughts were broken when I heard a rustle outside of the chapel. My eyes flashed open but my body didn't move. I sat completely still, waiting to hear another sound. Whoever made the sound, they weren't very careful with their step, the intruder had to be a human. No wolf would make such careless noise. But what human dared to come to the old haunted chapel? I would need to warn them, scare them. Having humans anywhere in this area was dangerous to the pack and put our secret in jeopardy.

I slipped off the banister, standing silently on the balcony. There was a stained glass window that overlooked the courtyard below. I snuck over to the window, as quiet as a snake, and peeked out the window. My eyes immediately found the trespasser. It was indeed a human. A male. He had short dark brown hair. He wore Converse shoes, and had a black messenger bag hanging on his shoulder. His right ear was pierced with a single silver stud. I narrowed my eyes at the silver stud, glinting in his ear. Not that it posed any type of threat to me at the moment, I still involuntarily shied away from it.

Just like the cliché that is found in all of the old ghost stories and nursery books, silver did in fact have a terrible affect on us. Wolves. Werewolves, I guess you could say. I always hated saying werewolf, because the image that comes into my mind with a werewolf is a hunched over creature, abnormally tall and walking on two legs. I change into a wolf. Whenever I want, sometimes ruled by emotions. But still, I am a four-legged, larger-than-average, wolf.

I heard another scuffle and I refocused my attention back onto the human trespasser. Despite the ruckus he was making he slipped over the iron fence as if he'd done it before and for all I knew, he probably had. Anger flared inside of me and I wanted him to feel the fire from my eyes burning into his temple.

I stood silently by the window, not daring to move an inch in case it brought attention to my hiding spot. I watched him carefully as he came up the chapel steps and as he disappeared around the corner, I readjusted my position. I slipped over to the banister again, keeping out of the open. He appeared from another room in the chapel, the one which long ago was used for baptisms.

Satisfied with his efforts, he ruffled his hair, took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He seemed completely relaxed and at the same time had no clue he wasn't the only one in the room.

I cocked my head to study him as he sat down and brought a sketch book out of the messenger bag. His silver stud earring flashed in the light being cast through the great windows and I narrowed my eyes again. His chest didn't bulge with muscles, and his arms were long and wiry. I could see the muscles flex beneath his forearms enough to show definition but I had most definitely seen better builds within our pack. I shook my head, _stupid._ I wasn't looking for a mate, I was protecting my family. Protect it from trespassers who can unknowingly stumble across a much bigger secret than an old historic chapel.

As his drawing started to somewhat take shape, I couldn't help but let my curiosity peak as I tried to guess what the sketch was morphing into. The lines were light but decisive, like he knew exactly what he wanted it to be even after just a few outlines. Even from up in the balcony, I could perfectly see the beginnings of the alter. The one in this very chapel, the one that I had traced my fingers over hundreds of times. He, too, seemed to see the beauty of this forgotten architecture.

A snapping twig outside made me realize what I was neglecting to do. I shook my head to physically get myself back on track.

_Get him out of here._ I sternly commanded myself.

If one of the pack members found him here they would take no mercy. Or worse, if one of my age mates or Gavin found him. They were a little more rough than necessary and I was never in support of their tactics. Even though they were effective.

I shuddered and steeled myself to take care of this on my own. I took a deep breath and dragged my foot against the old floor of the balcony, knowing that it was loud enough for him to hear. I raised my eyebrows as I peeked at him out of his eyesight. He looked up towards the balcony but was oblivious that I was staring right back at him. He lowered his head and looked somewhere else but then went back to his drawing.

_Hmph, stupid human._ I thought to myself.

A wolf would have gotten up and investigated the sudden out of place noise, determined to find its source. A tree branch brushed against the window that was opposite of me, on the other side of the chapel. He looked up again towards the window, and I took the chance to slip down the windy staircase. I stood in the shadows at the base of the staircase and looked at him now on ground level. I cocked my head again to get a better look of him. He put away the sketch book and got up.

_There we go. Get up and find out what's disturbing you._ I quietly taunted in my head.

He straightened the messenger bag and went over to another room of the chapel. I inhaled quietly and gave my inner wolf a little awakening. I let the deep growl resonate from within my ribs and throughout my body. It was easily loud enough for him to hear, I was sure of it.

Just as I predicted, he froze in mid-stride. I could feel the fear creeping over his body, I sensed it and got a slight thrill from it. I heard him swallow as he looked over his shoulder.

"Is someone there?" The voice had mustered up more confidence than I was expecting.

Inside I silently clapped in appreciation. I didn't make another sound, usually fear just needs a little inch to take a mile and I was pretty confident that I had given him enough to run with. He turned fully around, like most prey will do when a possible threat is detected. The next obvious movement was to flee. But he didn't. I stared directly at him, hoping that he would feel it innately and determine that it was best to leave. But still yet, he didn't move towards his exit.

Instead, he kept his body faced directly towards the staircase. I cursed under my breath, too low for him to even have a chance at hearing. I pursed my lips, angry that I had to put more energy and time into this.

_If you're going to do something, do it right the first time. _

And this needed to be the first and last time this human ever came here. He was lucky he pulled my straw this time rather than crossing paths with a less merciful pack member. Knowing the strength of my own body and nails, I reached up the stone wall and slowly dragged my hand down it letting my nails scraped slowly and steadily across the stone. It let out the soft and eery sound I was hoping for. Just as I expected, his eyes widened.

_Yes. Be frightened, listen to your body_. _Run._

To make my point clear, I let out another menacing growl, this time a little longer and more aggressive. He can't mistake this, whether he thinks it is demon or an actual animal, he couldn't be stupid enough to keep sticking around to find out.

Finally, he cleared his throat and gathered his book from the pew that he had been sitting on and walked hastily back out the room. I could hear him talking to himself, reassuring that he was having an off day and that there were no such things as ghosts. I half smiled, glad that I had taken care of the problem.

It was after moments like these that I could actually see myself as the Queen that I was meant to be. It wasn't all the time, because I still had a hard time believing that my parents were no longer the leaders. It had been five years since their deaths, and I still didn't feel right taking the place as Queen.

However, even more so now, I felt as though I owed them that. I could be a great Queen. For them.

The one catch, though, was that they had officially chosen Gavin as the next Leader.

It may seem misogynistic, but if a male is chosen by the current Leader and Queen to rule next, it is whoever the new Leader chooses as his Queen who claims the right. Even if there is a daughter who can claim blood rights.

Of course, this just threw a wrench into my entire plan of ignoring him and making him feel unwanted by me. And this whole situation would be a million times easier to fight if Gavin had turned out be an absolute jackass. There are times when I feel so stupid for putting so much effort into resisting Gavin's more than obvious advances. He was, contrary to how I would like to believe, a good person. He showed that he cared enough about the pack, he seemed to be a little too invested sometimes and that I wanted to scream at him to take a walk. He was a beautiful wolf, black and grey speckled coat made him oddly unique amongst the grey and brown menagerie they seemed to always have in our pack. And yet despite these positives, I tried to only focus on the negatives. He seemed entitled, overly confident, didn't understand the meaning of the word "modest" and worst of all: he knew I had a hell of time resisting him. And that above all was what pissed me off the most.


End file.
